What to write about for this month? Here I am staring at a
blank screen. Then itoccurred to me.
Advanced Driving Tests! – Why not, it’s yet another area I have specialist
knowledge in, that’s equally of interest to ADI’s.(Now bear with me, I promise I will produce
an article on the various requirements for the spacing of characters on number
plates eventually). So, what is it? To cut a long story short it’s a system of
driving developed by the Police from a series of training notes used by the
Metropolitan Police at Hendon in the 1930’s. Many of you will have no doubt
heard of “Roadcraft” even if you haven’t read it, which was the book eventually
published from those notes. (On a side note, Driving Examiners were originally
trained by the Police at Hendon and Preston,around until 1960 when the Ministry of Transport setup their own
training at a couple of sites before finally ending up at Cardington in 1976.
Roadcraft itself was the first government publicationpublished on actual driving techniques until
“Driving” came out in 1970, which later became “Driving the Essential Skills”)
It’s called Advanced Driving, just because that was the name of the course at
Hendon. I tend to agree with an acquaintance of mine, Reg Local , that it might
be rebranded “Better Driving”. Everyone reading this article, myself included
could be a better driver in one way or another. What’s different about it? Well
that really depends on the standard you were trained to originally. The last
ADI I put through both the IAM and RoSPA tests best described it as a
‘different style of driving’ Off the top of my head, more emphasis is placed on
not signalling when there is no-one to benefit, separating braking and gear
changing, rev matching - things already touched on in the Essentials Skills,
along with cornering and limit points. (With limit points, I’ve always found it
odd that the Essential Skills tells you to set the correct speed for a corner
on approach, but gives you no information on how to judge that speed). There
are some slight positioning differences onleft hand bends, and straight lining roundabouts! – Everyone in my
experience always seems to be excited about straight lining roundabouts for
some reason. That could be a subject foranother article. So, moving swiftly on, let’s don our string backed
driving gloves and see what options are available, if you’re interested in
taking an advanced test. First off, The Institute of Advanced Motorists. Now
rebranded as IAM Roadsmart, it was founded in 1956 to bring the police system
to a civilian audience. Its link to ADIs is that one of the founders was Denise
McCann, who was Chair of BSM at the time. It’s probably the most well-known
advanced test amongst the public. The test is usually examined by a serving or
retired police officer, lasts around an hour and takes in all types of road.
Commentary or as it’s now called by the IAM “Spoken Thought”, is optional.The marking system is graded 1-3
(1=Commended, 2=Satisfactory, 3=Requires development) across 23 categories (for
example Steering, Anticipation, Positioning), with no “3’s” allowed for a Pass,
so it’s not a purely fault based assessment like the DVSA. To turn up ‘cold’
and take the test it’s £99, and any ADI capable of driving to a good Part 2
standard should have no problems with it. If you want to learn a little more
about the Roadcraft system of driving, or think you may want to brush up on
some techniques then there is a £149 option which includes as many sessions as
you need pre-test with a volunteer observer. There is also the equivalent of a
distinction called a “F1rst” – This is where a candidate scores 1’s in 21 out
of the 23 categories and has to give a short commentary. Having passed the
initial test, you can go on to take the tougher “Masters” test. This lasts 90 minutes,
has a commentary requirement and is conducted in an area unfamiliar to the
candidate, by Area Examiners who are usually ex-police driver trainers.The marking system is the same as the
standard test, but to a much a higher standard. Some say equivalent to a police
course (without the use of any exemptions obviously). There’s less than a
thousand ‘Masters’ on the register currently. This is also graded as Pass or
Distinction, and is valid for 5 years. The cost is £249 for 12 hours training
and the test or £129 for the test only if you feel you’re at a high enough
standard already. Now we move on the next most well-known course available. The
Finchley League of Safe Drivers. Who?I
hear you say. In 1955 the Finchley League of Safe drivers recruited some Hendon
Driving instructors to teach the system to the public, in 1960 it became the
League of Safe Drivers before in 1980 passing the reins over to an organisation
you might have heard of – The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents or
RoSPA. The RoSPA test is also around an hour, a lot of the examiners also
examine for the IAM, (there’s a limited amount of police or ex-police personnel
interested in examining). The test is along the same lines as the standard IAM
test and is graded Bronze, Silver or Gold. Traditionally and perhaps slightly
controversially, a “normal” IAM Pass was considered equivalent to a Bronze or a
Silver. Before the F1rst, Enthusiasts would often progress from the IAM test
upwards to the RoSPA test which was considered a tougher standard.The test only option is £62 – There’s no
training package like the IAM. If you want training you’ll need to join your
local group for a small fee. The pass is also only valid for three years.
(Having initially passed the test you pay a nominal yearly membership fee to
RoSPA which covers the cost of your three yearly retests). Training for both
the IAM and RoSPA is provided by volunteer observers who have taken the test,
and then taken the organisations training tests, and varies across the country.
Some groups will provide classroom sessions and one to one tuition, others do a
monthly meet, where everyone arrives in a local car park, and gets assigned an
Observer for a run, or combination of both. If you don’t want to become
immersed in Roadcraft, then there are still a couple of options opento you. Diamond Advanced Motorists who are
linked to the DIA, offer an Advanced Test and an Elite Test. The Advanced test
is basically a Part 2, and in fact is often taken by PDI’s as a dry-run, so not
worth considering if you’re a fully-fledged ADI unless you just want to dip a
toe in the water. The Elite test on the other hand is a two fault (but not two
in the same category), 90-minute test based on the Cardington system of marking
and is £125 for the test only. The cost of training for the test, should you
need it will vary depending on the hourly rate of the Diamond Trainer you use.
Finally, the DVSA themselves offer the “Cardington Special Test”.It’s £144 and you must travel to Cardington
to take it.Grade A, the only grade
anyone is really interested in, is a maximum of 3 faults. This also allows you
exempt membership to IAM Roadsmart (i.e. you can become a member without taking
their test) What do you get out of it? A new set of skills and knowledge to
impart to your clients, many fleet providers also require their trainers to
have taken advanced tests. You could volunteer as an observer after you’ve
passed your test as a gateway to getting experience teaching full license
holders, if that’s not an area you’ve worked in before, or just for the
satisfaction of pushing yourself that little bit further. Further reading:
Without doubt: Roadcraft, however Advanced and Performance Driving by Reg Local
is an excellent primer for the subject along with his Youtube channel where he
has a variety of instructional videos on the different techniques. The now out
of print “Expert Driving the Police Way” by John Miles can still be found from
online sellers, along with the Roadcraft DVD, and Ultimate Driving Craft by
Chris Gilbert.